


More Than a Feeling

by Cari_J



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Sexism, Self-Esteem Issues, Soul Mate AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-23 14:57:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4881181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cari_J/pseuds/Cari_J
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens to soul mates when there is a war raging on two fronts?</p><p>Edit: I am slowly updating every chapter before adding the new one<br/>Updated chapter:6</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's A Long Way to the Top

**Author's Note:**

> I mean no disrespect to the real soldiers and their families. This is based purely on the fictionalized versions of them from BoB. This soulmate au is based where everyone has the first sentence that they will say to you written somewhere on their body. 
> 
> Also the version of their troops and set up is made so that I can use the plot lines I want and not how the army was really run during ww2.

There is one thing that everyone in the world has in common and it is words. Everyone has the first words their soul mate is going to say to them. You’re either born with the words or they appear when your soulmate is born. Some people are lucky enough to have names and others are unlucky and only have hello or a variation of that somewhere on their skin but everyone has something on their skin. It was close to unheard of not to have anything on your skin and people who didn’t have any never said they did. It was easier to pretend that the words were somewhere private.

David Kenyon Webster was born with the knowledge that he needed to go to Harvard otherwise he wouldn’t meet his soul mate. That fact had never really bothered him, his parents had already planned out his life. What was one more thing telling him what to do? However at the same time he didn’t want his life dictated out to him just because someone who he never met would say something to him, he wanted to make his life his own way. Though he wasn’t sure that he was since he did end up going to Harvard but once the war broke out he wasn’t sure he could just stand by and let others risk their lives. So signing up for the paratroopers was his first real rebellion and it was exhilarating, soul mate be damned.

Joseph Leibgott had never really bothered with his words. His philosophy was that he’d meet them when he met them. Though it is never set in stone that you would meet your soulmate. So maybe just maybe sometimes Joe did things out of habit hoping he’d find them. Joining the paratroopers was something out of the ordinary though there was no way he would admit that, he just said it was that he wanted to serve his country.

Katherine ‘Kitty’ Grogan had grown up knowing her soul mates first name and her words had also made her nickname. She was okay with that though because she actually liked being called Kitty. Though she wasn’t sure because it was a cute nickname or that she knew that her soul mate was going to call her that, she couldn’t decide. What she had decided was that she needed to speak first to anyone she hoped was a potential soul mate because it was obvious that her words were a reply to something that she said. She always got called names for this that she was too brash and needed to let others speak first but Kitty didn’t care. She wasn’t going to lose a chance to meet her soulmate for being proper.

Harry Welsh was one of the extremely lucky people where his words had his soul mates full name. Kitty Grogan was the most beautiful name in the world. Harry was going to marry Kitty Grogan and nothing was going to stop him.

If Harry Welsh was considered lucky than Ronald Speirs would be considered very unlucky. Ronald Speirs always sat alone. It wasn’t that people didn’t want to sit by him it was that he chose to. Ron was one of the unlucky ones that had to hear his words a lot and not have anyone react to his words. He could have easily stopped hearing his words if he wanted to but he really wanted to have someone react to his own not that he’d ever say that out loud, he had a reputation to uphold. But if he didn’t get a reaction soon he was going to start to mind.

Carwood Lipton had always thought his words were cute. He would run his fingers over the words wondering what they were like, probably shy if the trip of the words was anything to go by. However at 20, Carwood got a girl pregnant so he married her. It turned out to be a false alarm but they fell in love anyways and soon he let go of finding his soul mate. Joining the paratroopers was a way to bring an extra 50 dollars home and a chance to serve his country nothing more than that.

Lewis Nixon the Third was born with a silver spoon in his mouth so he didn’t understand his words. Not that he couldn’t understand them it was more that he couldn’t see a reason for someone to say them to him. He also didn’t think that anyone would ever care enough to say them to him. His father certainly didn’t care enough so why would anyone else? Why would he need help? He had everything except that he really did need help. Lewis subconsciously hoped that that being in the airborne would provide him with that he just didn’t know it yet.

Richard Winters had said the words he would say to his soul mate many times already not that he knew he was saying them. He was just that type of person but no one had ever said his words back to him. Joining the war just reinforced the type of person that he was. He was going to help his country and others and maybe someone would finally refuse his offer.

Edward ‘Babe’ Heffron always knew that there was something different about him. His mama always said that his soul mate had to be a caring sort of person because of his words. He never had admitted and was pretty sure he’d never admit it out loud that he wanted his words to be said by a man and not a woman. Having a same sex soul mate wasn’t exactly against the law but it was looked down upon and was never supposed to be acted on like how male and female soul mates did, it was only supposed to be a friendship that would last a lifetime. People had actually been arrested because they wanted to actually be with their soulmates and Babe didn’t want a friend for the rest of his life, he wanted a male soul mate and he wanted to act on it like they had been female. He didn’t care about the consequences at all.

Eugene Roe was pretty sure that he was broken or compared to everyone else he was broken. He would listen to the others talk about sex and he didn’t get it. Well he understood what sex was and how it was done he just didn’t see the appeal or well he didn’t feel the appeal. Even with this first serious girlfriend he felt broken. A little less broken than before because he finally felt those feelings but the problem was that they were few and far apart. This made Eugene feel very scared because what type of person wanted a broken soul mate. Who would ever want someone as broken as him?


	2. The Devil Went Down to Georgia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meeting between Ron and Lipton.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably going to be doing a chapter for meeting and then the story will interweave between all of them and follow the show with some changes obviously.

The thing about having training camp in Georgia was that almost no one lived by there though that was probably the whole point. It was most likely so that no one would get distracted during training with the promise of going home to a nice cooked meal. The army didn’t need soldiers that had distractions even the one that was the simple comfort as home. So Ronald Speirs sat on a train, alone of course, to go down to Georgia. He didn’t know how long he’d been on the train except way too long. Crossing his arms, he let his eyes slip shut. People didn’t tend to bother a guy who looked like he was sleeping and Ron didn’t want to be bothered. 

“Do you mind if I sit here?” A voice asked breaking Ron out of his revere. Great another person had asked him that. Getting ready to tell the person off, Ron cracked an eye open and looked up to see who had spoken to him. Looking up at the man who had asked him his words, Ron paused.

“Yes… shit um no I don’t mind.” Ron stuttered out, great, what a way to make a first impression. It was just that this man was just about every fantasy of Ron’s rolled into one at least aesthetically wise. Ron had figured out during puberty that he was attracted to men rather than women. 

“Thanks.” Carwood said before freezing. Those were his words. This man had just said his words. “You just said.” He said twisting his wedding ring around that rested over his words. His ma had always said that he and his soul mate were meant for great things and would have the type of love that would be told to generations come because of where his words were, he was pretty sure she was exaggerating. She had never said anything against his getting married to someone who wasn’t his soul mate but he knew that some where deep down she was disappointed in him. “Those are my words.” He lowered his voice kind of hoping the other wouldn’t hear him. He had not been ready for this, he was going to go off to war for God’s sake. 

Ron couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This man was his soul mate. He had finally found his soul mate. He had been waiting for this for a long time, probably as long as he knew what soul mates were. He knew that this was an incredibly inconvenient time but he didn’t really care. The army preferred people who hadn’t met their soul mates so that if they die it wouldn’t be as heart breaking to the people back home but they didn’t disallow people who had met them either. 

Ron knew logically that the other probably hadn’t been for a male soul mate but at this point in time he didn’t really care all that much. They were going to fall in love even if was the last thing he did they just had to. “I’m married.” The other said once more breaking Ron out of his thoughts. Married? He had to have heard that wrong but looking over at the other, he noticed that the other was playing and twisting what was obviously a wedding ring. Ron didn’t know it was possible to feel your heart shatter but now he knew that it was as his had just done so. 

“That’s good because this whole soul mate thing is bullshit now if you’ll excuse me I’d rather sit somewhere else.” Ron spat out feeling ice creep through his veins and encase his heart. As he walked away from the other, well more stalked away than anything else, he realized that he hadn’t even gotten the other’s name. He had met and lost his soul mate in less than ten minutes and he didn’t even know his name. Though maybe it was better that he didn’t know the other’s name because it just slightly lessened the heartbreak he had just felt. Okay who did Ron think he was fooling, not knowing the other’s name didn’t lessen anything, it actually probably made it worse because what kind of person doesn’t know their soul mates name after meeting them. Well obviously Ron was that kind of person.

Sliding into the next railcar, Ron sat down next to some girl and put his head down. Was he being punished for being homosexual, was this some kind of cosmic joke? He had to be like the only one in existence to be turned down by his soul mate before anything had actually happened. “Shit.” He murmured running fingers over his words that ran across his wrist. At least they could be easily hidden under a watch. 

Carwood watched as his soul mate walked away, away from him. He could feel a hole where his heart had been. Who didn’t believe in soul mates? Well apparently his soul mate. Wasn’t that a kicker? There would be no friendship between him and, fuck he hadn’t even gotten the other’s name. Feeling cold, Carwood spent the rest of the ride staring out the window not really even seeing the scenery rush by. It wasn’t until he stepped out into the Georgia sun that he started to feel warm once again. 

As he got onto the bus to go to Camp Toccoa, he noticed his soul mate sitting at the back. Ducking his head and body into a seat at the front, he hoped that he hadn’t been seen by the other. He wasn’t ready to face his soul mate again though it more than likely he would have to in the near future if they were going to the same place. It would be like a cosmic joke if they ended up in the same company. Carwood really hoped that they didn’t, though he kind of did because then they would have to talk and face the elephant in the room. Taking a deep breath, Carwood closed his eyes and waited to get to paratrooper training. 


	3. Bad Medicine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lew's and Dick's first meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a shorter chapter than the last two but the chapters will slowly be getting longer when all the characters are in it.

Lewis Nixon knew one thing and that was that his family money had gotten him in as an officer in the airborne. There was no other way to think that it would have happened otherwise. Seeing as the army wouldn’t have made a drunk an officer if they didn’t have money to back it up. Not that he thought he was a drunk, he just enjoyed to drink and be drunk.

If Lewis Nixon was a bad choice for an officer than Richard Winters was a good one. He was probably everything an officer should be. He was going to be a great leader someday if he wasn’t already. Which was why he was asked to come in a few days early though ordered was probably a more apt term. He didn’t mind though, he kind of wanted to get away from home.

“Lieutenant Winters, you will be serving under Lieutenant Sobel with a…” Col. Sink paused to look back at his papers. “Lieutenant Nixon.” He hadn’t arrived yet, a few hadn’t actually, but there had been word of small train delays so he wasn’t too worried about his officers yet. “He should be here soon, so Winters, I want you to help him get set up.”

“Yes sir.” Dick said. He didn’t mind showing someone around and he supposed that he would have to get used to taking orders. Going to his barrack, Dick started to put his foot locker together. Better to do it now than not have time later. Hearing the door swing open, Dick looked up and saw a dark haired man dragging his suitcase behind him. “Do you need help?” He asked straightening up.

“No, but you can show me around.” Lewis said before realizing what the other had said. He had never been asked that before, sure he’d heard people asking if they can help but never if he needed help. Lewis couldn’t believe that he had realized that no one had ever asked if he needed help.

Pausing at the other’s words, Dick kept his eyes trained on the man who was in the doorway. “Those are my words, so I guess you’re my soul mate.” He said with a grin. This was not what he had had planned for today but it was a good surprise. He didn’t really care that his soul mate was a male and not female. He was just glad that he had met the other.

“I guess so.” Nixon said blankly, he wasn’t sure how he felt right now. He had not been expecting to meet his soulmate today or well any day. He didn’t really think it was a possibility for someone like him. Not in the line of the fact that he was a homosexual but more in the line as someone who probably didn’t deserve to have a soul mate. That wasn’t even a subconscious thought for him no that was at the forefront of his mind. “I’d still like to be shown around though.” He said with a grin trying to deflect the topic back onto something he could actually talk about without having a meltdown. He didn’t need to fall apart in front of his soulmate just when he met him. 

“Alright.” Dick said with a smile before walking over to the other. He wasn’t going to push the soulmate thing because he could see that the other hadn’t adjusted to having a soul mate or maybe even wanting a soul mate. “Just set your stuff down and we’ll go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This originally was going to be Harry/Kitty but I couldn't form an idea on how to write their meeting so it'll be later as a story that Harry will tell. So has anyone figured out where I'm getting the chapter titles from? Also next will be the webgott chapter and let me tell you it's probably the longest one I've written so far.


	4. I Heard it Through the Graprevine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Web and Joe's first meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the webgott chapter and it is the longest meeting chapter so far. Next chapter starts were the show starts.

David Webster thought it was funny that he was being recruited as a translator when his family was trying so hard to forget that they spoke German and that they were originally from Germany. “If you’ll follow me, Private Webster. We’ll introduce you to the other translator that will be in your company.” The bored officer, that had greeted him when he came in, said not taking his eyes off the file in his hands. David was pretty sure that it was his file, which was a little jarring. That someone he had never met knew so much about him. 

“Alright lead the way, sir.” David said adjusting his bag in his grip. He hadn’t even gotten to find his bunk before the army had dragged him off, which probably said something about the army and their notion of promptness. He fell in step behind the officer and let his eyes wander around the camp, it was very scenic looking with the mountain. Though that probably would change when more people arrived, which would be happening over today and the next.

“Here is the tent.” The officer said going in before letting Webster follow him. That was going to get annoying, he didn’t mind taking orders but it would get annoying he knew. The officer led him over to a skinny fellow. “This is Joseph Liebgott. He’s going to be the other translator.”

Joseph Liebgott hadn’t planned on being a translator. He didn’t want to talk to any of the krauts, he just wanted to kill as many as he could. That was the whole point of joining the army in the first place but it seemed that as soon as he had entered the camp he had been whisked away. He hadn’t even been allowed to set his luggage down in his barracks.

“Stay here, Private Liebgott, the other translator for your company should be arriving soon.” The officer that had led him to the tent said before leaving. Company? No one had told Joe didn’t even know what company he was in and he was already going to meet someone else in it. Pulling out a cigarette, Joe played with it in his hands. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to smoke in here and he didn’t really want to get in trouble on the first day.

Keeping his eyes on the door, Joe watched as it was opened and a dark haired man follow the officer in and was led over to him. Standing up, Joe ran his eyes over the other taking in the other’s features, total pretty boy, and totally missing his own introduction. “And this here is David Webster. Just set your bag in the corner, you can pick it up when the debriefing is down. ” The officer said before walking away. He must have been busy trying to round of all the translators.

“Harvard well ain’t that just fancy.” Joe said looking down at the bag that Webster was carrying and the sticker that was on the front of it. Why would some college boy be joining the army, especially as a private? The other had to have money if he had gone to Harvard. Joe may have not gone to college himself but he still knew that it was a fancy ass school that was hard to get into if mommy and daddy weren’t rich.

“Well I wouldn’t have met you otherwise.” David blurted out unbuttoning the cuff on his right arm where his words were written. Pushing his sleeve up, Web looked down at the words before showing them to the other. His own words catching up to him, he paused. Oh god had he really just said that? He couldn’t believe that he just said that, his soul mate had those words written on him. How embarrassing could he be? He just wanted to melt into the floor to get out of this situation right now. 

Joe stilled when he saw the words he had just said on David’s arm and heard the other speak his. Holy shit, this guy was his soul mate, his fucking soul mate was standing right in front of him. Running a hand over his collarbone where he knew his words were, Joe smiled before moving his hand to run his fingers over the words inked on David’s arm. “So guess this means you’re my soul mate.” He said a little unbelievingly. He didn’t ever think that he’d actually meet his soul mate. “Don’t think this gives you a pass on the teasing, college boy.” He smirked at the other. No this would probably make the teasing worse, there was no way that David could be his soul mate if he couldn’t take the teasing and push back against him.

“Guess so.” David said. “Like I haven’t heard that one before liebling.” He mocked before being interrupted by a ten-hut. The officer from before stood at the head of the room that had slowly gotten fuller.

“Okay men you are here because you men are going to be translators. Which means that besides normal training you guys will have extra classes to learn about the Germans and their codes that you could possibly hear on the battlefield. You will also be trained in case of POWs and how to get information from them. And of course you will be tested on you language skills to make sure that you’re on par with what the army requires. If you fail you will no longer be used as a translator and a replacement will be found.” The officer droned on going over what they would have to know before they would be shipped off to the war. It was pretty obvious that they would more than likely be going to Europe with all the mentions of knowing German. The speech wasn’t all the boring it was just that Joe and David were still reeling from meeting each other and learning that they were each other’s soul mate. It was kind of daunting actually since they were going off to war. There was a chance that they wouldn’t be coming back or that only one of them would be coming him and training camp and the battlefield would be the only time that they would have to get to know each other. “Leibgott and Webster, Easy Company. Report to the barracks and Lieutenant Sobel, your commanding officer.”

Looking at each other, David gave Joe a small smile. “So guess we should find the barracks.” He said picking up his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“Yeah guess that we should.” Joe agreed. “Well ladies first.” He couldn’t stop his quips even for his soul mate it would be blasphemous if he did so.

“So shouldn’t you be going first?” Web asked rolling his eyes at the other. Great his soul mate thought he was funny. He was just going to have to knock that right out. “I mean you’re skinny enough. Do you even eat?”

“Ha ha.” Joe said walking over to the door and leaving not seeing if the other was following him. Stopping a few feet from the tent, he looked back over his shoulder. “Well are you coming or not?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So only have Kitty/Harry and Babe/Roe meetings left which will happen later on in the story. Feedback would be lovely. Also ngl I wanna do a chapter featuring Luz because I love him, what do you guys think?


	5. Bad Moon Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Currahee Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So originally I was going to have one chapter per episode but this chapter is almost 4000 words and they haven't even gotten to England yet. So I decided to split it up into at least 2 parts. You meet some new characters in this chapter

The thing about Easy Company was that none of the recruits believed that Sobel had a soul mate and if he did they felt sorry for the poor bastard. Sobel was a hard ass and that was putting it lightly. He would have them be up and dressed before reveille and no one wanted to count how many times they had ran up Currahee.

“Think it’d be possible to trip Sobel down Currahee and make it look like an accident?” Web muttered as he untied his shoes. They had the night off as Sobel and all the other officers had a meeting with Colonel Sink.

“Don’t we all.” Malarkey said flopping down onto his bunk face first. They had run the mountain twice today one right after the other. They only had to run it a second time because Sobel hadn’t been satisfied with the time it had taken for them to get up and down it.

“Hi Ho silver.” Luz imitated to a round of loud groans. Everyone hated that phrase and probably wished that they could strangle Sobel when he would yell it.

“Don’t forget that tomorrow is inspection.” Lipton reminded from where he sat on his bunk. Every Friday morning they had to get in full gear and let Sobel inspect them and then get their weekend pass taken away. It could be the smallest infraction and Sobel would punish them for it. It wasn’t that he was the only commanding officer that did this, all the companies had inspections it just was that Sobel was the worst and even the most miniscule thing out of place was completely wrong.

“Don’t remind me, I wanna savor the fact I have a weekend pass before it’s inevitably taken away.” Bill said getting out his rifle to clean it once more. He had gotten to use a weekend pass only once and he was pretty sure that it had only happened because Sink had been watching the inspections that day and Sobel couldn’t be his usual overly cruel self.

“Just don’t give him any excuses.” Johnny Martin said looking up from the letter his wife had sent him. Sobel didn’t pick on him all that much but it could be argued that because he stood in front of Bull who Sobel was slightly afraid of. Denver ‘Bull’ Randleman could easily crush Sobel as he had at least 75 pounds on him and was a few inches taller too.

“Everyone should sleep otherwise if Sobel comes back…” Eugene Roe trailed off in his Cajun drawl. It seemed that when he talked they all listened to him, his voice as a calming and it probably also that he was one of the only men that’s words were visible no matter what he wore. They wrapped around his neck almost like a scar. Having visible words definitely made him less threatening in their eyes it added a small vulnerability to him.

“Not like you’d get in trouble.” Liebgott muttered from where he was sitting on his bed. It wasn’t that Sobel was afraid of the medic it was just he was slightly wary of him. He had mocked the other’s words by purposely saying them the first time he spoke to him. Roe knew that Sobel wasn’t his soul mate because he hadn’t done the actions mentioned in his words but it was still a cruel thing to do. You weren’t supposed to read someone’s words without their permission and you especially weren’t supposed to say them out loud when you read them, it was a taboo. But Sobel had done just that and when the medic’s had to get training for appendicitis, he was the one drugged and it was a rumor that it had been taken out. He had never found the ones who did it but Easy was pretty sure that Eugene had suggested the idea.

“Do you want a weekend pass or not?” Perconte said from where he was ironing his trousers. Sobel saw any type of crease as a flaw and it didn’t help that his little lap dog Evans got to use better equipment than them so they never looked as good in comparison. It wasn’t fair but Evans didn’t have any other friends now so it probably evened out just a little bit.

“Midget’s got a point.” Warren ‘Skip’ Muck said with a grin. Midget had become Frank’s nickname for being one of the shortest men in the whole company. He didn’t particularly like it but it didn’t stop them all from teasing him with the nickname. Actually most of the men in the company had nicknames that they had already been called before or had been christened here at the camp.

“You people are at the position of attention.” Sobel yelled, they had been standing here about a half an hour just waiting for him to show up and Reveille had just started to play over the intercom. It was inspection time and everyone just wanted it to be over. They had all meticulously checked their gear making sure that it would be up to snuff.

“Private Perconte have you been blousing your trousers over your boots like a paratrooper?” Sobel had chosen his first victim for the day and Frank wanted to smack him or himself. There was no way he had done that, he wanted his weekend pass.

“No sir.” He answered keeping his voice devoid of any negative emotions. No way was he going to get in trouble for speaking improperly. He had gone after Web for that reason two weeks ago saying that he basically sounded too smart. That had turned into a hilarious fight between Web and Liebgott but it had also contributed to a run up Currahee.

“Then explain the creases.” Sobel said keeping his eyes level on Perconte. Perconte wanted to ask what creases as he had ironed his pants last night but there was no way he would talk back to the other. He was already going to get his weekend pass revoked he didn’t want any more punishment.

“No excuse sir.” He said choking back the words that he really wanted to say instead of sir, jackass was one that came to mind.

“Volunteering for the Parachute Infantry is one thing, Perconte, but you've got a long way to prove that you belong here." Sobel said like they all didn’t know that. He had only said it to them a few hundred times it seemed like. They were sure that he was going to keep reminding them that, it seemed that he took some perverse source of pleasure from it. “Your weekend pass is revoked." He continued on before moving on to his next target. “Name?”

“Luz, George.” George said moving his gun into the position so that Sobel could inspect it and find something wrong. He knew that he would because he always did. No matter how many times any of them could clean their gun Sobel would always find something wrong with it.

"Dirt in the rear sight aperture. Pass revoked." Sobel said before stalking over to Johnny Martin and looking him over before noticing Bull behind him and going to a different victim instead. "When did you sew on the chevron, Sgt. Lipton?" He asked pulling off what could be a string from the chevrons but what could be also nothing because it was that tiny.

“Yesterday sir.” Lipton said not conveying any emotion. The boys had been happy for him when they heard he had gotten the promotion and now because of it he was contributing to a chance of all their passes getting revoked.

"Long enough to notice this. Revoked." Sobel said showing Lipton the loose string he had pulled off. It was less than an inch long and easily could have come from the chevron itself. Lipton wanted to smack the other but he held back.

“Sir.” He said in defeat nothing they did would ever be good enough for Sobel and before he had tried to stop the guys from saying that his soul mate was shit out of luck but now he was starting to believe it himself. It was also making him start thinking about his own soul mate and wanting to say sorry to his. He had realized that his soul mate probably didn’t actually not believe in soul mates it was more that he hadn’t expected his soul mate to be married and had acted out before a rejection. See Carwood had never really cared about gender; he had fallen for his wife because of her personality not because she was a girl.

“Name.” Sobel ordered standing in front of Don. Today was obviously going to be a longer inspection than usual. Usually it only took him 3 guys for him to take all their passes but today he was going to be extra cruel it seemed. Maybe he just wanted to get rid of their self-esteem and make them leave. No one understood why because if they all left they were pretty sure Sobel would be in huge trouble and quite possibly get kicked out of the army.

“Malarkey, Donald G.” Don said bringing his gun up for inspection. Why did Sobel have to pick him? But he knew that everything was perfect as he had gone over everything three times last night.

"Malarkey... 'Malarkey' is slang for 'bullshit', isn't it?" Sobel asked a small hint of glee in his eyes.

“Yes sir.” Donald said trying not to roll his eyes. Really he had to bring that up? Like that hadn’t been pointed out to him many times. He knew what his last name meant he didn’t need to be reminded. At least the guys had stopped when he asked them too. Now he knew that Sobel was going to keep reminding him about that in some way. No way was he going to let it go.

“Rust on the butt plate hinge spring, Pvt. Bullshit. Revoked.” Sobel said tossing the gun back to Donald before looking for another victim and stalking over. The boys couldn’t believe how many people he was going after today. They already knew that they had all lost their passes. Why did he have to keep going and basically rub it in? “Name.”

“Liebgott, Joseph D. Sir.” Joe said keeping his eyes straightforward but not focusing on Sobel, who was standing in front of him. No he was trying to just keep enough focus in his eyes while he kept his thoughts on David, it was stupid but it meant that he wouldn’t talk out of turn because didn’t want him to get punished too.

“Rusty bayonet, Liebgott. Do you want to kill Germans?” Sobel asked totally bypassing his gun and pulled out his bayonet. Joe guessed Sobel had to switch it up because there were only so many small things he could make up that were wrong with the guns.

"Yes, sir.” He said because there could be no other answer and he did want to kill Germans or at least he thought he did. He was pretty sure he wanted to at least. 

"Not with this." Sobel said hitting Joe’s helmet with the bayonet before walking back to the front of the company and raised it above his head. "I wouldn't take this rusty piece of shit to war...and I will not take you to war in your condition." He said before throwing the bayonet into the dirt. 

"Now, thanks to these men and their infractions, every man in the company who had a weekend pass has lost it. Change into your PT gear. We're running Currahee." He said. It was obvious that he took glee in this that he could do this to others. Currahee was the bane of Easy Company’s existence it was the mountain just outside of the camp and was the camp’s motto as it meant, “We stand Alone.” Every company had run the mountain but Easy had run it the most and training wasn’t even half over, how many more times they would they run up and down it.

It wouldn’t even be that bad because it wasn’t the longest distance that they had to run before it was just that it got very steep in some places and the footing was hard. It also didn’t help that Sobel would remind them that it was 3 miles up and 3 miles down by making them recite this little speech. No one wanted to run up the mountain today but they would because they didn’t want to get kicked out. They had learned what happened the first week of training when a private had refused. They were going to stick this out and prove Sobel that they would do this.

Plus it wasn’t like their day could get any worse than having to run Currahee. The men knew that there was a chance he’d make them run it at least twice but right now as the got into their PT gear they didn’t really care. "Ready to run?” Dick asked as he stripped off his gear and looked over at Nix who was doing the same thing. He hated that Sobel would find any reason to take away things from these guys but he couldn’t say anything against it. He also hated it when Nix had to run the mountain with him. Seeing as he was Easy’s intelligence officer most of the time he was learning different things but times like now he was with the men.

“Sure.” Nix said lacing up his shoes once more. That was a lie, he hated running with a passion now. Once this was all over Nix didn’t think that he would ever run again. He would make sure of that.

The men were lucky that Sobel only made them run the mountain once, though they were pretty sure it was because Skip had gotten injured and that gave him some sort of perverse pleasure with telling them that they weren’t allowed to help him. Like hell they were going to leave him behind especially not in the war. Fuck that.

The rest of the weekend and week carried on with them running drills and running the mountain as usual. It wasn’t until Friday that they got a surprise instead of taking away their weekend passes; Sobel decided that they were going to go on a twelve-mile march in full gear in the dark without being allowed to drink from their canteen. It wasn’t the worst thing but dehydration was a real concern especially for the machine gunners and the fact that they hadn’t been allowed lunch that day because they had to run Currahee once again.

The march wasn’t the worst but it was also very boring and no one wanted to go any faster than they had to. They truly didn’t care if they were late, all they wanted to do was drop onto their beds and sleep, Sobel be damned. The most interesting part of the march was when Bull asked Winters why Sobel hated them. “Well his soul mate probably hates him.” Joe muttered, this was torture of the highest caliber and he wanted to sleep.

It turned out that Christenson had drunk from his canteen when he wasn’t supposed to. None of the guy’s faulted him as he had been carrying around a heavy machine gun the whole time. They felt even worse when Sobel told him he had to repeat the march because they knew that if he refused he’d be out faster than he could say Hi Ho Silver.

“Alright whose turn is it for latrine duty?” Dick asked coming into the men’s barracks after the march. He had been expecting the groans because latrine duty was the worst of them all but no matter what Winters would recommend Sobel would always change it to that.

“McDonald, Toye, Perconte, Lipton, Muck and Guarnere.” Lipton said pulling a list from god knows where. No one really had infractions so they were on a rotation of sorts for when Sobel wanted to give out punishments. They had all done it at least once but they would continue training and not let it get to them too much. They were going to become paratroopers no matter what.

“Sobel got promoted.” Talbert announced coming back into the barracks as they were changing to once again run up currahee. “Just saw him give Winters his promotion too and he didn’t look all too happy about it. Something is going to happen.” He said taking off his jacket. And Talbert was right because not fifteen minutes into the men running up Currahee, Sergeant Evans came and fetched the Easy company officers. 

“What does he want us for?” Dick asked from where he was sitting on his bunk trying to figure out the mess schedule.

“No idea, sir. Just told me to bring you to the men’s barracks.” Evans said not noticing the look that was shared between Nix and Dick. Great this was another way that Sobel liked to punish the men by going through their footlockers as if they weren’t allowed to have any privacy. They knew that in the army you didn’t get a lot of that but Sobel went above and beyond to make sure these men got nothing.

“Thank you Sergeant.” Dick said getting up from his bed so that they could make their way over to the barracks to what was no doubt going to be another reason to run up the mountain.

The inspection didn’t turn out all that bad though one private was going to be kicked out over a can of peaches, no wait it was US Army Property that was stolen out of the mess hall. But one good thing came out of the inspection and that was that Sobel was giving them tomorrow afternoon after and he wanted spaghetti so Dick would provide that. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he didn’t serve that but of course it would come back to bite him in the ass because just about half way through the meal, Sobel came in yelling that they were going to run Currahee. Dick knew that this wouldn’t be good, all those carbs and their full stomachs. People were going to vomit he just knew it.

After the disaster that was the run up Currahee, the company learned that they were going to finally get their jump wings. The men were ecstatic, as all the training they had been doing would finally pay off. “Almost there boys.” Bill said grinning as they were told the new that they would be jumping today.

“Only got to jump out of perfectly good airplanes now.” Skip joked and nudged Malarkey with an elbow. They couldn’t believe that they were almost going to be actual paratroopers but things would just get harder from there because they would actually be training to go to war and would have to start facing the fact that they might not actually make it home.

They all would have to jump out of a plane five times before they would be full paratroopers. “Sobel paused in the doorway.” Web said leaning down between Joe and Malarkey. They had all gotten their jump wings and now were at the bar that had been rented out just for them and their celebration. “Each time actually.” David had been one of the unlucky ones that had to be in Sobel’s plane.

“Son of a bitch.” Joe swore under his breath. If they had to follow that man into war they were going to all end up dead. “He’s going to kill us all.” He said to the table grimly. They all agreed with him, no one wanted to follow Sobel into war and they hadn’t even seen how he’d react in combat situations yet.

“Cpl. Toye. There will be no leaning in my company. Are those dusty jump wings? How do you expect to slay the Huns with dust on your jump wings?!” A voice that resembled Sobel’s said from the bar. Looking over, Lipton noticed that it was Luz and was talking to Toye. He just hoped that Joe wouldn’t smack George too hard to that; no one wanted to think about Sobel right now.

The party continued till it was interrupted by Sink who had come to congratulate them and to let them know that they would be moving to a different camp to run some war exercises before they were going to be shipped out. That news had definitely put a dampener on the party. They may have been training to go to war but they didn’t want to face that fact right now, not when everyone was so happy.

All the boys’ suspicions were confirmed at camp Mackall. Sobel was not fit to lead them into war. Every exercise that he led, their company had been the losing one. He would get too jumpy and couldn’t stay still, he made them go look for the enemy and then they would get ambushed. Eugene wouldn’t be able to save anyone with how Sobel was leading them. There would be no point in him being a medic if everyone was going to get killed.

But they had also learned that Winters was a great leader because when they had to split up into more than one platoon, the one he led would always get the objective or kill Sobel’s squad. They had also gotten a new officer, Harry Welsh. They liked him; he was a good leader and was able to joke with them. He fit in in a way that Sobel just didn’t.

“He’s going to kill us all.” Cobb muttered to the men he was sitting with. They were waiting for the trucks to finish loading to move them once more. They were going to be deployed.

“Shut up, Cobb.” Joe Toye said stubbing out his cigarette against the truck he was leaning against.

“You gotta admit, he's got no chance. Either the Krauts will get him, or one of us.” Cobb continued on not listening to Toye.

“Who Sobel?” Liebgott asked throwing his bag on the ground before crouching by them. “Ah, you know, I'm always fumbling with grenades... Would be easy if one went off by accident, you know...” He grinned at his joke, though he wasn’t exactly sure that it was a joke.

“Joe, nicht.” Web said nudging the other with his boot. He didn’t need to hear that even if he might have agreed with Joe.

“Well the army must have put him in charge for a reason.” Shifty said in his Virginian accent. He was one of their snipers and he was undoubtedly the best. All the men liked him even if he was a little naïve.

“Yeah, 'cause the Army wouldn't make a mistake.” Web muttered to himself though he knew that they all would have heard him. He had been picking up some of Joe’s snark it seemed because while they both would argue with each other, they both had a different tone when they did so. “Let’s just get in the trucks so that we can get out of here.” He nudged Joe once more before walking away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German Translation:  
> Nicht - Don't  
> \---  
> So there is going to be at least one more soulmate pair but they wont be revealed until way later. I'm hoping that this fic will be at least 50000 words by the time it's finished but we'll see. I also kind of want to write this concept with the Pacific but like so much angst so I don't know. 
> 
> I would love some feedback on how you think I'm writing the characters and stuff. Let me know if you notice any mistakes in spelling and stuff as I don't have a beta. Canon is also being modified slightly but if I go way off base with something feel free to let me know.


	6. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Currahee part two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is shorter than the other chapter but over all both of them combined is about 7000 words. The next episode will be longer because it does have the Harry/Kitty story in it. I have about 300 words of that written and some written out by hand.

“Going my way?” Nix asked coming up behind Dick. He had been talking to Speirs and had gotten caught up discussing soul mate stuff and what it would be like going into the battlefield with one. Though Nix guessed that Ron had it slightly better because they weren’t in the same company and Speirs was a badass so Nix was pretty sure that helped.

“Where ever the train takes me.” Dick answered giving Nix a small smile when he sat in front of him. He could understand why the other was his soul mate. They were basically completely opposite but they balanced each other very well. Now that he had the other in his life he wasn’t going to be letting him go for anything. “Come on guess. Atlantic, Pacific, Atlantic.” Nix said with a grin before taking a sip from his flask. Of course he was going to tell the other where they were going he just liked to tease the other. Dick was fun to rile up he had learned and he was going to keep doing it. Even if it was just to keep the other from getting into his head too much. “New York City. Troop Ship. England.” He continued on with a grin before offering Dick a drink from his flask. “We're invading Europe, my friend. Fortress Europa.”

“Since when do I drink?” Dick asked waving a hand at the flask. So they would be invading Europe. He supposed that that was better than the pacific and he really should have guessed it since Webster and Liebgott were the translators and they both spoke german.

“Wouldn’t offer if you did.” Nix grinned before offering his flask to the newly awoken Harry. He had seamlessly fit in with the two of them even if he talked about his soul mate a little too much. They all knew about Kitty Grogan by now.

“You all know we’re going to Europe right.” George said to Skip, Malarkey, and Penkala. “Both our translators speak german, there is no other place we’d be going.” He said looking over at the two mentioned their heads bent together and them. It was a running bet for someone to ask if they were soul mates with all the fighting they did no one was sure.

Now George Luz was something of an anomaly, he didn’t have any words not that he had told anyone. They all just thought it was somewhere they couldn’t see but he actually didn’t have any. That didn’t really worry Luz all that much since he never really had those urges or those types of feelings. He just liked making people laugh and the occasional cuddle. He didn’t really think he needed a soul mate so he was okay with not having one.

“Okay someone needs to ask them.” Malarkey said nodding his head at Joe and Web. “But not until next week because that’s when it’s my bet.” He grinned. He had some money riding on this and no way was he going to lose on purpose.

The men looked up at the ship that was going to be taking them all to England. It was huge yet there was no way that it was going to be able to carry all the men comfortably. There just wasn’t any way that this trip was going to be a fun one no matter what anyone said.

“Right now, some lucky bastard's headed for the South Pacific.” They weren’t lucky at all, anyone going to the pacific couldn’t be considered lucky. “He's gonna get billeted on some tropical island.” Yeah, some tropical island that filled with the Japanese, who don’t surrender and would rather blow themselves and anyone else up. “Sit under a palm tree with six naked native girls helping him cut up coconuts, so he can hand-feed them to the flamingos.” Native girls that get wired up to explode and sent scared over into the American line as they watch her die. Yeah the men going to the pacific were lucky.

“Hey, guys, I'm glad I'm going to Europe. Hitler gets one of these right accross the windpipe, Roosevelt changes Thanksgiving to Joe Toye Day and pays me ten thousand dollars year for the rest of my fucking life.” Toye said opening his knife after Skip’s little speech about going to the pacific. All the easy men had found bunks near each other’s and as disgusting as it was there they didn’t want to lose them by moving yet. They were all talking about where they would like to end up. No one really wanted to go to Europe and least of all did they want to go to Africa. American’s weren’t even in Europe yet which would make them the first and that was a little incentive for them going over there. “Shut up. Point is, it don't matter where we go. Once we get into combat, the only person you can trust is yourself and the fellow next to you.” Bill said from where he was lying on his bunk. Breathing out smoke, he grinned at the guys.

“As long as he’s a paratrooper.” Toye agreed turning in his bunk to look at Bill. They were the best of the best. They had put up with Sobel for almost two years and they were so much better because of it.

“Yeah what if that paratrooper is Sobel?” Luz asked hanging down from his bunk. Now that was the sixty-four dollar question.

“If I'm next to Sobel in combat, I'm moving on down the line. Hook up with some other officer, like Heyliger or Winters.” Christenson said turning away form his conversation from with Web. They had one of the more surprising friendships but not really they both were more of the quite types.

“I like Winters, he's a good man. But when the bullets start flying, I don't know if I want a Quaker doing my fighting for me.” Bill said blowing out smoke.

“How do you know he’s a Quaker?” Muck asked Bill from his position next to Malarkey.

“He ain't Catholic.” Bill countered. No one really discussed religion when talking about themselves they just kind of knew. Though religion was definitely a more respectful than asking about someone’s soul mate. It wasn’t proper to ask to see someone’s words unless they decided to show you. Even if the words were on display, you weren’t supposed to comment on them.

“Neither is Sobel.” Muck said with a grin. He wasn’t trying to instigate anything but he could never keep his mouth shut.

“That prick’s a son of Abraham.” Bill said with a shrug.

“He’s what?” Liebgott asked from where he was sitting on the edge of Web’s bunk. He was pretty sure he knew what Bill was saying but he wanted to be one hundred percent sure before he got angry.

“He’s a Jew.” Bill said elaborating what he had just said. Maybe he wanted to egg Leibgott on a little. He was kind of itching for a fight now.

“I’m a Jew.” Joe said throwing his cigarette on the floor before jumping down from the bunk and getting in Bill’s face.

“Congratulations. Get your nose out of my face.” Bill said stepping closer to Liebgott and poking him in the chest. Which of course was the easiest way to start a fight and start a fight it did. It didn’t last that long as the guys were right there to pull them apart but they both had at least got a good hit in.

“Joe, let’s get some air.” Web said jumping out of his bunk to tug on Liebgott’s sleeve. “Komm lass uns zu beruhigen.” He continued on in German. It was like a secret language for them. They could say thing in it that they couldn’t say in English for fear of being discovered.

The rest of the troop ship ride was tense and a little stilted because no one really knew what to say to Joe, they knew he was easily set off after a fight and they didn’t really want him to get into another one. Though it seemed like all was forgiven when they actually got to England or they were all just united against Sobel so the disagreement didn’t matter any more.

They had been shipped off to Aldbourne, which seemed like a normal English village. There they did more training for war and learned knowledge that they were going to need out in the field. Training here was a lot let stressful than back in the states and there were only really about 4 big events that made it kind of exciting.

Sobel couldn’t read maps as most of the platoon found out as he was always getting lost and poor Tipper had to stick close because Sobel liked to consult the map that he couldn’t even read. “Perconte, Sobel’s lost again isn’t here.” Skinny asked after Sobel ordered them all behind a grove of trees. They were supposed to be going to an intersection so that they could ambush the “enermies.” This was a simple training exercise and no one could understand how Sobel could be so bad.

“Yeah.” Perconte said before a proverbial light bulb went off over his head. “Hey Luz can you do Major Horton?” He asked with a grin. Sobel needed to be taught a lesson and this could turn out really funny or they would all get punished.

“Does a wild bear crap in the woods, son?” Luz said in a perfect imitation of the major. He wasn’t sure what Frank wanted but he was always happy to show off his impressions and make his friends laugh.

"Maybe the good major can goose this schmuck; get us moving?" Perconte said revealing his idea. They were already late to the objective and had lost so why couldn’t they have a little fun in the mean time and maybe make command actually see how bad Sobel really was.

“No, I’m not going to.” Luz said shaking his head. They would get in so much trouble if Sobel caught onto this scheme. He didn’t want to risk it for the guys.

“Come on, you gotta.” The guys all said trying to make Luz do it. They wanted to see Sobel get freaked out and they needed a laugh. They all knew that if this happened on the battlefield they would be dead and they wanted to live the time they would still have alive to the best of their abilities.

“Okay okay.” Luz said with a grin. If they really wanted him to do it that much he would do it. What was the worst that could happen? “Is there a problem, Captain Sobel?” He asked loudly in his major Horton impression. He continued his impression until he got Sobel to cut the barbed wire fence, which they weren’t supposed to.

Of course they were late at the intersection and arrived loudly but the men were happy to share with the other platoon what had happened. Everyone had loved it except for the fact on what if had caused. Winters had been court martialed because Sobel was a child basically. There even was a rumor that he had spelled court martial wrong.

Lipton had no idea what to do with this, Dick had been moved to Battalion mess and out of Easy for the trial. He knew there was a good chance that he wouldn’t even be around for the jump. “You okay?” A voice asked from behind him, Carwood had taken to sitting outside hoping to come up with an idea. Turning around, he saw it was his soul mate. He had learned his name during training, Ron.

“Sobel is going to kill us all.” He said speaking freely. He didn’t care, he knew his soul mate wouldn’t tell the higher ups. Plus he kind of wanted him around right now. He needed someone he could talk to. “And with Winters gone, there is no one else.”

“Stage a coup.” Ron said simply surprised that his soul mate was actually talking to him after he had been so cruel before. But that had always been his way be cruel to the before they can hurt you. It saves him a lot of pain that way but also always made him quite lonely.

“What?” Carwood asked not taking his eyes off the other. He was scared that the other was going to disappear. He didn’t understand the tales of needing your soul mate that his mother had told but now he had begun to understand them.

“Force him out.” Ron said shrugging. No one in any of the other companies liked Sobel either. They all talked behind his back but Sink didn’t see how bad he was and none of them wanted to lose their position so they stayed quiet around him. “Cigarette?” He offered taking his pack out. Sharing wasn’t in his nature, taking was, but Carwood made him want to share. He wasn’t sure if he hated it or not.

“You just gave me an idea.” Lipton said waving off the cigarette. He didn’t smoke and he wasn’t going to start now. “I need to go, I’ll see you around.” He said standing up and jogging away. This idea had better work or he probably would end up dead. Either shot for mutiny or shot by the German’s and he knew which one would be worse.

Though in the end his plan did work out. He and all the other NCOs had formally renounced their position in the company. They all knew the risk that they were taking but they couldn’t just have Sobel lead them in the jump. No one would come out alive if he did so and that was something they weren’t ready to face. They couldn’t let men die when they had a chance to prevent it.

Sobel had been transferred to a training camp and Lieutenant Meehan was going to take over Easy, this was all the men could talk about. They also had gotten a new Lieutenant, one Buck Compton. He was a good guy and they liked him. They didn’t have long under Meehan’s command till they were to go to an airfield. It seemed that the big jump was going to be very soon.

Operation Overlord was what it was called. They were going to be jumping into Normandy to secure the beaches before the navy and the army got there. It was dangerous and people would die but this is what they had signed up for and there was a spark of excitement among them all. They were finally going to see some real action.

“Three-day supply of K-rations, chocolate bars, candy, powdered coffee, sugar, matches, compass, bayonet, trenching-tool, ammunition, gas mask, musette bag with ammo, my webbing, my 45, canteen, two cartons of smokes, Hawkins mine, two grenades, smoke grenade, Gammon grenade, TNT, this bullshit and a pair of nasty skivvies!” Joe Toye complained as they packed up their bags once again. They were either going to be making real jump or another training jump. They weren’t told anything just that they needed to pack up.

“So?” Frank asked looking up from his stuff. He didn’t understand what Joe was complaining about, they all had to carry the same things.  
“God! This stuff weighs as much as I do! I still got my chute, my reserve-chute, my Mae West and my M-1.” Joe continued, why they needed all this stuff they didn’t know. Plus they had just been given something called a leg bag, which would just add more weight to their jump.

“Where are you keeping your brass knuckles?” Frank joked. They were all a little stressed because this could be the big jump. They could be going into combat tonight.

“I could use some brass knuckles.” Joe murmured before going back to packing everything up. He had no idea how it was all going to fit but he was going to make it work.

However it turned out that tonight wouldn’t be the jump because of the weather. The men weren’t sure whether to be happy or scared. That meant they would be jumping tomorrow and tonight might be their last night alive. This caused a lot of men to start of poker games and different things to gamble over. If they were going to die, they might as well have some fun with it.

Bill was going to spend his possibly last night watching the movie that was playing. Reaching into his pocket to grab his smokes, he pulled out a letter instead. This wasn’t his jacket but curiosity got the best of him and he had to read the later. It was pretty boring into he got to the line that had his brother’s fate written in ink. He had been killed in Monte Casino. He didn’t even know where that was and that was his brother took his last breath. The Germans were going to pay.

Tonight was the big jump, Dick wasn’t nervous he was just worried. He was scared that he wouldn’t see his family again, that he wouldn’t see Nix again. But he was going to make the jump and lead the men because they needed him more than anything and he wasn’t going to let people die under his watch. Loading up onto the plane, he was the last to get on.

Looking out the door as the plane rose, he watched the scenery go by but he was really thinking about Lewis and his promise of taking him to Chicago when this was all over. He wanted that more than he could admit but first he would have to get through this night, the night of nights: June 5th 1944.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German Translation:  
> Komm lass uns zu beruhigen - Come on let's go calm down
> 
> So this is the first episode done, I'd love to know what you think about it and the direction I'm heading in.


	7. Spirit in the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day of Days Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This definitely goes away from canon but I hope that it stays within character. I needed to put the different jumps in so that I could have the plot points that I needed later on. This episode always seems like the shortest one to me with only two bigs events which makes it easy to pick the clear dividing in the chapters. This is about 2500 words

Whatever was in the airsickness pills that they had been given made most of the men loopy and none of them really snapped out of it until the anti-aircraft machine fire started. Either the Germans knew they were coming or they did this every night. “Hey Lieutenant Welsh. Tell us how you met Kitty again.” Perconte said leg jiggling. He needed something to distract him from the fact that their plans could be shot down, they all did. 

“Alright.” Harry said grinning; he loved to tell this story. 

Harry Welsh had basically grown up worshipping the name Kitty Grogan. She was his dream girl and he wouldn’t settle for anyone else. She was perfect and he didn’t even know what she looked like or how she acted but he didn’t really care. He was going to marry Kitty Grogan. He just didn’t know when yet as he hadn’t met her but he was going to meet her. He wouldn’t settle for anyone who wasn’t her, sure maybe that was high standards but Harry didn’t care. 

Kitty was much the same as Harry; she wasn’t going to settle for anyone less than her soul mate. She was sure he was going to be lovely and sweep her off her feet, not that she needed that. He was going to support her independence and wouldn’t make her stay at home while he went to work. He was her soul mate, he had to understand he would understand, Kitty would make sure that he did. 

December 7th 1941 wasn’t just a day that would live in infamy for the United States or maybe the whole world, it was a day that would live with Kitty forever. It was the day that she would meet her soul mate. It had started as a normal day for Kitty and she dressed in a nice black dress, which made the pearls around her neck stand out. They were something that her mother had refused to part with during the depression. 

“I’m going out.” She had called as she left her parent’s house like she did everyday. She worked at a diner by the train station in her town. 

“It was actually the day that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor that we met.” Harry continued breaking out of his story. “Actually it was a few minutes after that we met.” 

“Hello I’m Katherine Grogan, but you can call me Kitty.” She said distractedly to the man at her table. “I’m going to be your waitress today.” Her boss had told her to carry on with her job as normal. They needed some semblance of that as more news came in. All they knew right now was that something had happened in Hawaii. 

“Nice to meet you Kitty, I’m Harry.” Harry said before realizing what had just come out of her mouth. He was allowed to be a little distracted; he had no idea what had happened except something bad to the US. “And you’re my soul mate.” He grinned. 

“And you’re mine.” She said leaning in to kiss him. She didn’t care about anything else except that he was in front of her and he was real. She had actually found her soul mate. Maybe not in the best situation but she had found him. 

Harry was going to continue but the red light to have them stand up went on. They were going to jump and who knew how many weren’t going to make it to the ground alive. 

Soon the light turned green and the sky was filled with paratroopers. “Fuck.” George Luz screamed as he felt his radio be ripped away. Oh he was going to get in so much trouble for losing that. At least he still had his gun but all his ammo had been in his leg bag, which had also gotten ripped off by the force. He knew those bags had been a bad idea. 

Landing on the ground, he quickly shed his parachute. He needed to hook up with other because he knew there was no way that he was in his DZ. All he knew was that he was in Normandy, other than that he was completely lost. Hearing rustling, George crouched down hoping it wasn’t Germans. He wasn’t supposed to take POWs and he was pretty sure they weren’t either. 

Seeing a paratrooper uniform emerge, George relaxed. “Shit, you have no idea how happy I am to see you.” Well he was until he looped up and saw that it was Lieutenant Speirs and two boys from dog were with him. He was happy it was Americans but Speirs was crazy. 

“Sure about that Private?” Speirs asked with a smirk. He knew what everyone thought of him, he worked hard at making his reputation what it was. He wanted to be feared; he knew that was the only way he was going to get through the war. Sure his men respected him but being badass was a much better way to get results. 

“Better than a German.” George said with a grin. “So guessing this isn’t the DZ.” Though that was probably obvious because this didn’t in any way look like it was near a beach. 

“That obvious.” One of the Dog boys said with an eye roll. It looked like the new comer had a weapon but no obvious ammo, which wasn’t very good. They weren’t going to leave them. Speirs wouldn’t let them leave him because as much as he tried to deny it they knew he cared. Also he had some weird fascination with Easy Company and this guy looked somewhat familiar. 

“Okay we need to keep low and figure out where base is being set up.” Ron said going into commander mode. You didn’t disobey orders when he gave them, not that you wanted to disobey them. Speirs was a very effective combat leader, who knew what he was doing. “No unnecessary risks.” He was not going to die today and he wasn’t going to get anyone else killed either. 

“Yes, sir.” They all intoned, they weren’t going to disobey him. They wanted to live and he was their best chance at that. At that moment, George Luz was kind of fascinated with the lieutenant; he was something that he had never encountered before. 

“Come on then.” Speirs said crouch down to go through the brush once again. The tall grass was good for hiding but that a two way Street because they could hide in it but that meant so could the German’s. They needed to be extra cautious because they didn’t need any surprises. 

“Flash.” They heard from their left flank. 

“Thunder.” Speirs said quickly and lowered his weapon. He watched as two men from Easy Company come out from the grass. He didn’t know their names but he was pretty sure that they were in second platoon. He really only cared about Carwood to be frank. 

“Frank, Doc.” George said with a smile on his face. “Thank god, you’re alive.” He was happy that he was seeing men from his own company, that they had made it out of their planes alive. “Tell me you have a weapon, Perconte.” He said not liking that they were stopped with all the anti aircraft fire going on. 

“Yeah but I don’t have much ammo and well obviously Doc don’t have one.” He said looking over and nodding to Speirs. “But the road is over that way.” He had tried to memorize the map that they had been given but it didn’t really help them at this point. 

“We were short on our drop zone so going east is our best bet.” Doc said as they started walking once more. At this moment, he hated that medic’s couldn’t carry weapons. He felt really useless and if they ran into any krauts than he wouldn’t be able to do anything. “Do you have your radio, George?” He asked looking over at Luz. 

“Nah, it got ripped off in the jump. Going to be so much trouble for that at least I have my weapon just no extra ammo.” He whispered as they got to the edge of the grass. It seemed like the road was empty but there was no way that was going to stay that way. They needed to follow the road but they couldn’t be too obvious about it. 

“Stay in the ditch.” Speirs ordered. The medic was right about where they were and that they needed to go east. Hopefully they would run into a sign of some sort so they could figure out where they exactly where. He knew the maps by heart but that didn’t help when they didn’t have a bearing on where they were. “Keep low and keep moving.” 

Hearing bullets, they paused before speeding up. “Must have found some of us.” Frank said making sure that his gun had a bullet in the barrel. They needed to be ready. 

“We need to keep going.” Speirs ordered listening to the gunfire. This was a good distraction for them, the krauts would be going towards that and they would have a chance to keep moving unnoticed. “No use for us to get involved.” He said looking back over his boys. He wasn’t going to get them killed for nothing. 

They kept walking until they came upon a farmhouse that battalion had taken over for headquarters. It was a easy walk in the fact that they hadn’t run head on into any Germans but they had run into dead paratroopers that either were shot when they hit the ground or were dead way before they had. Looting dead bodies wasn’t something that they ever thought they would do but they needed ammo among other things. 

It seemed that Frank had a fascination with watches as he had taken them off each body they had found. George had found a radio on a man that was strung up in a tree. It was morbid but he needed it more than he did. That was definitely the mind set they all had as they took things from the bodies. 

The one thing that no one had noticed was Eugene finding a pistol and slipping it into his medic bag. He knew that he shouldn’t have it as it went against the Geneva Convention but he needed it just in case. He wasn’t going to die before he met his soul mate and this was going to be his way to make sure in case of an emergency. He hoped that he would never have to use it. 

Meanwhile Joe and David weren’t as lucky as George with their landing. Neither of them had a weapon and they were just about fifty feet away from an anti aircraft gun. Nodding towards the tree line, David prayed that they Germans wouldn’t notice them on the ground. He hoped with the plans still in the sky, they’d be safe. “I don’t have a weapon.” He murmured to Joe. 

“Me neither.” Joe said as they hid behind some trees. “Just have my knife.” Either they needed to hook up with some others he needed to slit some kraut’s throat. They would all have to kill sometime during this war, Joe just hadn’t realized his turn would be so soon. 

Hearing footsteps, they froze. “Flash.” Joe whispered hoping that it was an American. No such luck that was obvious from the bullet that whizzed by them a few seconds later. “Shit.” Joe swore. 

“Soldat.” Web said switching over to German. He had a very stupid idea that would get them killed if it failed. “Go around his back.” He said low enough for the German not to here. “Was tun du, weg von ihrem beitrag?” He asked hoping that he sounded German enough. “Gehen Sie zurück, bevor Sie getötet werden.” This needed to work. 

“Ja, sir.” He heard in reply and then the sound of a body hitting the ground. Walking over, David saw Joe leaning over the soldier who had a knife in his neck. Not a slice across the neck but it in his neck. 

“Come on we gotta move, someone will come looking for him.” Joe said pulling his knife out and wiping it on his pants. He grabbed the gun and his canteen. “Lucky that he went down quietly.” He murmured mostly to himself. They easily could have been killed and he couldn’t think that right now. Crowding himself against David, he pressed a kiss to his lips. “Fuck, love you.” He murmured before backing off. They needed to move, this wasn’t the time for love confessions. 

“Love you too.” David said pressing fingers to his lips. They had kissed before but none of them seemed to have the emotion in them like that one. He followed behind Joe hoping that that was the last German they would encounter today. He didn’t need to see Joe kill anyone else. “That wont work again.” He said as they made their way through the trees. 

“No shit, Web.” Joe said. He was never good with emotions and he had just displayed enough of them for the month or maybe even year. They just needed to get the hell out of dodge and find some Americans. He supposed they were lucky and they had made it to the ground and it had been only one German. He hadn’t told David but he had taken more than just the Kraut’s gun. 

Donald Malarkey couldn’t believe that there was an American Kraut. What was that bullshit? Why would any one willingly betray their own country for the “mother land”? This kid was from Oregon and he was nice. They could have been friends if they were on the same side. That made him that that someone’s soul mate could be the enemy. How could someone deal with that, how were they supposed to cope? 

“Hey, Malark! We're waiting on you!” Popeye called out to the red head. 

“Yeah! I'm coming! I gotta run. I'll see you around.” Malarkey said nodding at the American Kraut. Walking back, he gave a small nod to Lieutenant Speirs as he passed. He stopped in place when he head gunfire, turning around he knew that he wouldn’t see that American Kraut again. 

Sitting next to Toye, Don pulled out his canteen. “Hey, Malark. Where's the best chow?” Toye asked but he didn’t know what that meant. “In Berlin.” Oh now he got it. He opened his mouth to say something but Speirs walked by and he curled in on himself. “Speirs shot the POWs.” He would admit later. 

Ron had always been told that he had a disconnect on what he though was a good idea and what really was one. But he knew he needed some new rumors and they had been told to take no POWs. That they couldn’t ship them back so they were of no use. He wouldn’t get in trouble for this so it didn’t really matter. He was going to make sure people feared him and that they would wonder if he really did it. 

As he handed out the cigarette, he didn’t even spare a thought to what his soul mate would think of him doing this. Keeping the red headed American in sight, he swung up his Tommy and pulled the trigger and watched them all fall. There was a bullet with his name on it so he was basically already dead. He doubted it mattered what he did anymore. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German Translations  
> Soldat - Soldier  
> Was tun du, weg von ihrem beitrag - what are you doing away from your post  
> Gehen Sie zurück, bevor Sie getötet werden - Go back before you are killed  
> ja - yes
> 
> I don't speak german and I use a translator so I hope that I am right with my translations. Feel free to correct me. Also let me know what you think of about this. 
> 
> I might have broke my middle finger on my right hand yesterday so typing is going a little slow but writing it out by hand is going much faster as I'm left handed so I have more on paper than I do on my computer. The document for this is 23 pages already.
> 
> Edit: I've been implying some of the guy's sexuality so I thought I'd reveal so of them (aka the ones I've figured out)
> 
> Gay - Babe, Speirs  
> Pan - Lipton  
> Asexual - Luz  
> Demisexual - Gene


	8. All Along the Watchtower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day of Days Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so hard to write which is why it's taken 4 days to get done and it's only like 2000 words too. I don't know, it's just so focused on Winters that it was hard to make it long and worthwhile. Day of Days would be last on my list if I had to rate the episodes on the order I like them.

Easy Company had like twelve men and Dick wasn’t sure why they had been chosen to get rid of guns that were firing on the beach. Lieutenant Meehan hadn’t been found and Dick hadn’t seen Nix. He wished that Nix could have been on his plane because then he would know that he was okay and his plane hadn’t exploded. 

Dick didn’t know what he’d do if Nix had died before they got to even talk about the whole soul mate thing. Sure they both knew that they were each other’s soul mate but every time Dick tried to bring it up beyond that first meeting, Nix seemed to shut him down. It was like he thought that he didn’t deserve a soul mate or something. Dick was going to make sure that wasn’t true. But for now he had to focus on the guns. 

“Get all the ammo you need and follow me. If you don’t have a gun, find someone who does and see if they’ll let you have it.” He said to the men gathered around him. Sure he had told them what was going on but he didn’t know if he had done it well enough that the Germans wouldn’t totally annihilate them. He didn’t really care that Hall wanted to tag along instead of finding his company. They needed all the men that they could get. 

John ‘Cowboy’ Hall was nineteen years old. He had lied on his enlistment form when he was 17 to join the paratroopers. He hadn’t met his soul mate yet, though he dreamed about it. He was a radioman but he had lost his in the jump. He was pretty sure that most of the radios had been lost; he wasn’t sure how they were supposed to stay on. The leg bag had been so stupid and he was going to be in so much trouble with battalion. Though Winters had said rifleman before radioman but he didn’t think that would stand up to why he didn’t have his radio. 

He was in Able Company but during the jump he had hooked up with mostly Easy Company men. No company had the comradery that Easy had. He didn’t understand how they all could be so close but he was sure that it had to do with their first Commanding Officer. Everyone at Toccoa had seen what Sobel had done to those men. Now he was trying to fit in with them and he wasn’t sure he was doing all that well. 

There were 4 guns to take down and a whole squad of Germans. Dick didn’t have any time to pause he needed to make sure that his men were going to survive. He barked out order and hoped it was the right now. “I'll draw their fire to the right from the truck. Take two men and hit them from the left.” He said to Buck before turning to Lipton, who had the TNT. “Take Ranney, envelop right, give covering fire.” He had never done anything like this and he just had to keep his cool. 

“Don't give away your position until you have to.” He said, he wasn’t going to be the reason these boys died. He was going to make sure that they were going to be able to write home and say that they survived their first day in the war. That they had gotten away unscathed. “And I want that TNT as soon as you see we've captured the first gun. Go!” They couldn’t keep dawdling here; they were going to get killed if they did. 

Moving down into the trenches, Dick raised his weapon and fired at the Germans that were there. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to kill anyone but he wanted to stay alive and keep his men alive and if that meant that he had to kill someone to do so then he would do that. 

It seemed as if the action came alive after that. The gunfire ramped up and the yelling rose in pitch. It was hard to hear even the person next to you with all of it going on. They had just gotten the first gun but Lipton was nowhere to be found. Where the hell was he? 

Carwood was back with the men. Toye had been in two grenade blasts but had been very lucky not to get hurt. He had only banged his head slightly. Though the same couldn’t be said for Popeye. He had been hit in the ass by a bullet. “I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to fuck up. I don't...I don't think it's too bad.” He said feeling so bad about it. He didn’t even know how he had gotten hit in the ass. This was not something to write home about. 

Taking the second gun wasn’t that hard but Dick knew that the next one wasn’t going to be as easy. The Germans weren’t going to be giving up and they were going to fight back harder when they saw another gun had been taken. Dick hoped that none of his men were doing something stupid. What he didn’t know that at this moment, Malarkey was lying in an open field next to a dead German looking for a Luger. 

“Christ, they must think he's a medic or something!” Petty said from his position. The Germans had stopped firing when they saw Malarkey next to one of their own soldiers. Though they all knew that the lack of gunfire wouldn’t last long. The krauts would see that he didn’t have a red cross on him and would try to kill him once again. 

“He's gonna need a goddamn medic!” Gaurnere said not really believing that Malarkey could be doing that. Did he want to get killed? A luger was not worth dying for. This war wasn’t worth dying for Bill knew that much. “Hiya, Cowboy.” He grinned seeing the kid from Able come up

John Hall had made a decision with some of his Able guys. They were going to go help out Easy with the guns. He needed to pay them back for getting him to the base safely. He owed them that much. “Shut your fucking guinea trap, Gonorrhea.” He snapped back, he didn’t owe them that. 

He moved down the line slightly before offering his TNT to Winters though he didn’t have a way to set it. This repeated for the next gun too. He grinned he liked being able to help. He set off for the next gun to do the same thing. He was happy that he was helping. The krauts were going down, he knew…

“Mind if D Company takes a shot at the next gun?” Ron asked coming up to Dick. D company had been told to bring more ammo up to the guys but there was no way that he was going to let a chance to fight pass by. Plus with this many people, he knew that this was a good way to add to his reputation by doing something arguably stupid as in getting out of the trench to take the final gun. Maybe he was even try to show off to his soul mate because he had seen Carwood earlier and knew that he would be there. Or it was possible that he was trying to warn his soul mate away because while Ron had that bullet with his name on it, He was sure that Carwood didn’t and he didn’t want one to be made for him. 

Dick couldn’t believe he was watching Ron do something so stupid but he was more focused on the map that he had picked up. He hoped it would be some help. As he made his way back down through the trenches, he looked for all his men. He noticed someone on the ground and stepped closer. “Oh.” He murmured mostly to himself. It was Hall with blood staining his clothes and dead eyes. He had just lost his first man. 

They had finally taken all the guns, and Dick had to report to the commanding officer on what had happened.” They were 105s, not 88s, sir. We disabled them and pulled out. I'd figure there is maybe 40 or so Krauts still manning three MG42s to the rear.” He said and waited to hear a response before continuing on. “Yes, sir. We killed maybe around 20, so yeah, probably there's 40 left. I think we need artillery or maybe mortars might do the job.” He just wanted to go and see if Lew had come in since the time they’d been at the guns fighting. He was secretly happy that Nix hadn’t been there and hadn’t been the one to die as horrible as that thought was, he was glad that it wasn’t Nix who had been the one killed. Hearing rumbling, he looked up. Tanks were coming down the road towards them. They must have been from the beach invasion and Oh there was Nix riding one all casual. 

“Going my way?” He asked with a grin like Dick hadn’t been worried about him and he hadn’t been worried about Dick. Sometimes Dick wished those were his words but he wouldn’t trade the ones he had for anything because they what Nix had said. Though arguably “going my way” would be cooler 

“Sure.” Dick said getting up on the Tank to ride next to Nix. He didn’t care about anything except for the fact that his soul mate was alive right now. He didn’t want to think about Hall and if he had met his soul mate or if his was going to wait forever and not meet theirs. “Nice ride you got here, Nix.” He said with a smile. He just was happy that it was Lewis he had found dead. 

They had been given an hour to find food and eat before they were headed to Culoville, even though Easy was still spread thin and it was pitch black. Though this was probably to be expected because this was a war. Most of the Easy men were in groups together telling each other about their jumps and what they did that day. They were just happy that the ones there were alive. 

“Jesus! Let me outta here!” Liebgott said getting out of the truck he was in with Lipton, Toye, Compton, Gaurnere, and Malarkey. He wanted to find David and get way from the smell. He knew that David had made the jump and got to base alive but that didn’t stop him from being worried about the other, he guessed it was a soul mate thing. 

“Light! Light discipline! Guarnere, close that flap.” Lipton said they didn’t need the Krauts to start firing their guns. He wasn’t going to get killed for nothing, if he had to die in this war he wanted it to be when he was fighting and doing something for this country. 

Seeing Bill, Dick decided to do something that Nix would probably do and not him. He just felt the need to do it so he walked over to the truck to talk to him. He was going to surprise his soldiers, he couldn’t help himself really plus it looked like he was going to be the commanding officer since Meehan still hadn’t been found. 

“It's been a day of firsts.” He said taking the offered bottle of wine from Toye after Bill said he didn’t drink. He just kind of wanted to prove him wrong. Was that wrong? “Don't you think, Guarnere?” He asked getting a little perverse pleasure from the look on his face and the answering: “Yes sir.” “Carry on.” He said ducking out of the truck before pausing. He had remembered something else. “Oh, sergeant.” He said ducking back into the truck. “I’m not a Quaker.” 

Dick couldn’t believe he had just done that. He needed to tell Nix about it, he was certain the other would get a laugh out of it and they would need all the laughs that they could get out here. 

“Hey, Dick.” Nix said jogging to catch up with the other. He would never admit it but seeing Dick alive today from that Tank had made his whole day. Just because he shouldn’t have a soul mate didn’t mean that he didn’t want Dick as his. He just… Dick was so much better than him and should have someone better as a soul mate. Not someone like him, not Lewis Nixon. “You know that mad you found? That had every Kraut gun in Normandy on it.” He said grinning trying to shake the thoughts from his head. 

He watched as Dick fumbled with a can before taking it from him. “Don’t ever get a cat.” He joked. Don’t ever get a cat without me was what he wanted to say. Don’t leave me when you realize I’m not worth it. That I won’t ever be able to measure up to you, that you’re so much better than me. Though he supposed that Dick wouldn’t ever think that, he was too good. Nix really didn’t deserve him. “Come on, let’s go eat.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry the next chapter will take a lot less time to get done especially since I can once again bend my finger so I can type much faster now. Also has anyone figured out what all the chapter titles have in common yet?
> 
> Comment on how you're liking the story so far if you want, I love hearing what you guys thing. Or visit me on tumbler. heystovetopboys.tumblr.com


	9. Hysteria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carentan Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay sorry this took so long to get out, writing Blithe is hard and you'll be able to tell that I kind of wrote out his parts by not adding in the dialogue from the scenes. It just couldn't get it to work any other way. The next chapter definitely wont take this long to get out.

It was two days past D-day and there were still people missing from Easy Company. There still hadn’t been any news on Lieutenant Meehan or any one from his plane. There also hadn’t been any reports that his plane had made it back to England either. This meant that Dick was the new commanding officer of Easy. The men were okay with this outcome. They respected him and what he had done with the guns. 

“Hey, it looks like what-his-name... you know from first platoon.” Talbert said nudging Shifty and nodding to the man standing in the grove that they were walking through. The original plan was to take Carentan the night they dropped but that had been such a cluster fuck they still had to even get to that town. But they all knew it was important and they would follow orders. 

“Our first platoon?” Shifty asked looking at the man. He looked familiar but he couldn’t place his name. While first and second platoon did get along they were definitely closer with people in their own than the other except maybe for Joe and Web but Shifty was pretty sure that that had something to do with the fact that they both spoke German. 

“Blithe, Hey Blithe.” Talbert said remembering the other’s name. He couldn’t remember which plane Blithe had been on but he was pretty sure it wasn’t Meehan’s. But he did wonder how he got here? He didn’t think that any planes had really made it this far in with all the gunfire that had been going on. Floyd grinned when Blithe looked over at them. “Thought that was you. You alone?” He asked. They weren’t far off from where Easy Company was supposed to be. Him, Shifty, and Smokey had found each other and now were looking for everyone else. 

“You're the first familiar faces I've seen.” Blithe said seemingly ignoring Floyd’s question. They all thought he was a little aloof and hard to connect to. Blithe always seemed a little off to them and they didn’t know why. They all wondered if it was that his soul mate had died or something. That was something that took a lot to recover from. 

“I ain't surprised. They dropped us all over the peninsula.” Smokey said with a shrug that tried to say what can you do about it. Smokey, besides being one of Talbert’s best friends, had his soul mate waiting for him back home unlike the other two. 

“We've been fighting with the 502nd since we hit the ground. You?” Floyd said unsure what else to say. It was hard to talk to Blithe because had this stare that like looked through you while not focusing on you at all it was kind of creepy. 

“I've been... trying to find Easy.” Blithe said with a small shrug. He hadn’t really been doing anything but walking though really it had been more wandering. He got caught up in his head too much sometimes and just lost track of time because of it. 

“Join the club.” Talbert said gesturing that Blithe should come with them. “We’re headed to where they’re rumored to be so come with us.” He grinned. Fighting with the 502nd was okay but they wanted to find Easy and get back with their friends. It just wasn’t the same with other people and they wanted to be around their friends in this war. They especially wanted to find them before any of them could get hurt. 

“Well look who decided to show up, Floyd.” George said with a grin as the four soldiers walked up to where Easy was relaxing. They were going to be moving out soon so it was good that these guys had found them before they couldn’t. They knew that if the men didn’t find them then they would probably get reassigned to other units because they knew that whole three days hard fighting and then a relief would come was probably not true. 

Talbert dropped onto the ground next Liebgott and was immersed into a conversation about the different souvenirs that they had already got. It was kind of morbid what they were doing but at the same time the mentality that they had here couldn’t bet the same mentality that they had when they were a civilian. 

"Got any souvenirs to trade?" Perconte asked rolling up his sleeve to show a multitude of watches on his arm. “They're all ticking, unlike their previous owners. Got anything good?” Perconte wasn’t all that bothered taking things from the bodies whether they were American or German, survival of the fittest after all. 

“So, have we lost anybody?” Blithe asked not having anything of value. He hadn’t really done much since the jump the airsickness pills had made him really loopy and sleepy and it had just really worn off. He should have never taken them. 

“Tommy Burgess took one in the face. Popeye Wynn got pinked in the behind. They're gonna be okay.” Dukeman said with a shrug. He was glad that no one really had gotten hurt but he knew that that wouldn’t always be the case. 

“"You run into Lt. Meehan on you travels?” Perconte asked. They were all pretty sure that Meehan was dead but they did want confirmation that Winters was going to be their full time commanding officer. Hearing a no from Blithe he continued: “Company's HQ says he’s still missing. They think the plane went down.” This reminded him that he was lucky to make it to the ground that night. 

“Easy's moving out. On your feet!” Harry Welsh said in a loud voice. They had just gotten their marching orders and they were going to be taking Carentan once they got there. It was still at least a day of walking away. “Listen up! It'll be dark soon. I want light and noise discipline from here on.” He continued with his orders as the men stood up and grabbed their bags. 

“No talking, no smoking and no playing grab-fanny with the man in front of you, Luz.” Harry said with a grin before taking a more serious tone to remind them where they were going and why it was important that they win the fight they were walking into to. There were going to be casualties he knew this but that didn’t mean he was ready to see these men die. To have to send condolence letters to their families. 

“Remember boys, give me three days and three nights of hard fighting, and you will be relieved.” Luz imitated after Welsh explained why they needed to take the city of Carentan. They all knew this was coming but that didn’t stop a small tension to fall over everyone, a tension that George wanted to break. “Another thing to remember, boys: flies spread decease; so keep yours closed.” He finished off with a grin before being told to shut up. 

The company marched as the light melted away and only the last part of the sun and fires from burning wreckage were the only light. No one knew when they were going to stop and they didn’t want to ask. They just knew that they weren’t near Carentan yet and would have to keep going. 

“We lost F Company, sir.” Hoobler said to Harry. They had stopped their march because of this. Hoobler wasn’t sure how anyone could get lost let alone a whole company. He understood it was dark but how had was it to follow other people. 

“Hoobler, take Blithe, go find F Company.” Harry ordered with a sigh. This was not a good time for a whole company to get lost, he didn’t even realize that was possible, not when they were behind enemy lines and were going to be waging an attack against the Germans. Now everyone would have to stop marching and just wait till the company was found. This was not an ideal option because they were sitting ducks if any krauts happened upon them. 

Finding F Company only took about ten minutes at most. It was more of an inconvenience than anything else though a dead German soldier had startled Blithe. He had been so sure that he was going to be killed at that moment and really wondered why he was even here. He wasn’t sure that he was supposed to be a soldier, it was all so much and he didn’t have enough to give. 

Easy Company had finally arrived in Caretan and just as they were walking up the road the firing and shelling started. Obviously this meant the Germans had been waiting for them and they weren’t going to give up without a fight. It seemed like time slowed down and sped up at the same time. 

They couldn’t stay in the ditch, they had to go into the town and fight. There were bullets flying and mortars exploding and people couldn’t stand still, they had to keep moving and clear the houses. Grenades went in first and then the soldiers followed. 

There was no time for mercy or hesitation, which was something Blithe couldn’t do. Everything was exploding around him and his back hit a wall. Everything was going at a hundred miles per hour and Blithe didn’t know how to process this and soon his vision turned black. Oh god he couldn’t see. 

It seemed like the battle would never end but then it was over. There were wounded people and casualties and no one wanted to go look at the dead. The wounds it seemed were either horrible like Tipper, who the men weren’t sure was going to survive, to not as bad, like Lipton who had been hit in the face and the crotch but he would recover he was just have some scars. 

Making a face at Nix, Dick grinned as he passed with Major Stayer. He couldn’t believe how jumpy the major was being, asking if it was safe to cross. What was that about? Hearing a shot, Dick felt a pain in his ankle. Shit, he just got hit and now he needed to go to the medics. 

“There she is. You're lucky it was a ricochet. You just caught a piece of it.” Roe said to Winters. He was lucky that it was only that because Gene had seen way worse today and he was sure more wounded would be coming in. He hadn’t signed up to be a medic but he kind of understood why he was chosen to be one. He knew that because his words were on his neck, he presented a less threatening image than other people because he had a visible vulnerability that others didn’t. “Now, you gonna be able to stay off it?” He asked though he knew the answer would be no. They were probably going to move again to fight more. He gave Dick a smile as Compton came it. 

Gene didn’t really care about battle plans or where they were going. He knew that they wouldn’t stay here even though the Germans were probably going to try to fight back. They needed this town as much as the American did. “We're not waiting around to find out. Battalion wants us to head east toward high grounds, set up a defensive position.” He picked out as he worked on Dicks ankle. He had gotten the bullet out but he needed to make sure it hadn’t done something that could seriously hurt the other. 

“What's wrong with Blithe?” Dick asked Roe and seemed to snap his concentration. He really was a good medic and Dick was glad that he was on their side and not the Germans. 

“Well, nothing. Except he can't see.” Roe said with a small shrug. He wasn’t sure he believed Blithe but at the same time he didn’t respond when they tried his eyes. It just stared at nothing. 

“Blithe? It's Lt. Winters. What happened?” Dick said walking over to the man sitting on the floor. How could someone just stop seeing? He didn’t look injured and Roe said he was fine so what was wrong. Dick didn’t know but Blithe needed help and maybe an evac. He didn’t need to bring the morale of the men down or scare them. 

“I don't know, sir. Well, things... They just kinda went black on me.” Blithe said turning his head towards the sound of the lieutenant’s voice. Everything was black and Blithe thought he should be freaking out but at the same time it was kind of calming. He couldn’t see the horrors around him. 

“Well, you just take it easy, Blithe. I'm gonna get you out of here. Get you back to England.” Dick said after confirming that Blithe couldn’t see anything. Blithe needed help and he would just die if he went out in the field. He could bullshit some forms if it meant keeping his men alive. “It's gonna be okay.” He comforted with a small smile. 

Dick would make sure that they other didn’t freak out. He wasn’t letting anyone down, not everyone was made for war and what came with that. Though it seemed as soon as Blithe was reassured that he didn’t let anyone down his vision came back. Dick kind of got it, that Blithe had let his fear of failure take hold and it had made it happen. Though that sounded stupid even in his head so he wasn’t going to say it out loud. 

Speirs leaned against a building and watched some Easy Company soldiers. He had heard that Lipton had gotten wounded but he didn’t know how badly. He didn’t see him around and he didn’t know if he had been evacuated back to England or was just someone else. He wanted to make sure that he was okay and alive. Though Ron was sure that he would know if Lipton had died or at least he hoped so. 

He pushed off the wall and walked over to the soldiers. They were talking about how they would be in Berlin by Christmas though Ron didn’t think that would happen. “Enjoy it while it lasts. We'll be moving out soon.” He said stopping in front of them. He had gotten the order about a half hour earlier and he was sure that it wouldn’t be much longer. He gave them a grin, it could be called that though it was more of a serial killer stare and smile combo, before walking away. 

“Real smart. You know, you're taking your life in your own hands. Ain't that right?.” Mucks said nudging More and nodding at Malarkey. They had all heard rumors about Speirs and were pretty sure they were all true. No one was as scary as the lieutenant and the rumors fit him like a glove. 

“I told you. I didn't actually see it.” Malarkey said grinning at Skip. Though he might as well had seen it, he just knew that that American kraut wasn’t alive anymore. He had just blurted it out on D-day and now it was spreading everywhere. Though he was sure the he wasn’t the only one that had started that rumor.

“What, Speirs shooting the prisoners, or the sergeant in his own platoon?" Penkala asked and soon they had all delved into the rumors surrounding Speirs. Some believed that he had done it while others didn’t believe. Why would he give them smokes if he would just shoot them in the next moment? It was actually thirty soldiers or it was twenty. The number was never consistent the only thing that stayed the same was that it was D-day and they were German prisoners which is why most people believed it to be true. 

“Well all I know, from what I heard, he took that last 105 on D-Day practically by himself. Running through MG-fire like a maniac.” Penkala said adding another rumor that he had heard. If they were all true than Speirs was crazier than all of them combined. 

“Yeah, that I did see.” Don said with a nod. That he could confirm was true and it just made Speirs untouchable in his eyes. He had gotten out of the trench and hadn’t gotten hurt. Speirs was someone that you didn’t want to cross and Malarkey was going to make sure that he didn’t. 

“Let's go! 1st Platoon! Weapons on me! We're moving out!” Harry yelled across the courtyard. They were needed to fight elsewhere even though they had barely gotten a break since the end of the battle in Carentan. But Harry knew that the men could do this and would do this that they could fight and their spirit wouldn’t break. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this ends very far into the episode and it's over 2700 words but the next chapter is probably going to be longer because Gene and Babe are going to meet in it. It's the cutest scene that I have ever planned and I hope that you'll like it
> 
> Also come talk to me on tumblr. I changed my url from last week so now i'm whiskeytangofcker.tumblr.com
> 
> and you guys were correct that all the titles are song titles, classic rock songs to be specific.


End file.
